


Really?

by jeffgangfan



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Confession, Fluff, M/M, Percico Weekend, Tumblr AU, human!AU, movies - Freeform, nerd!Nico
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-03-17 20:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3542072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeffgangfan/pseuds/jeffgangfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy and Nico went to the cinema, which didn't even sell popcorns. Nico brought a book and a flashlight while Percy smuggled in some food.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Percy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [madleidy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/madleidy/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, Rick Riordan does.
> 
> Tumblr: ‘we’ve been friends for a while now and I kinda have a crush on you so I invited you on a date to the cinema to confess after it but oh no it turns out we’re the only two watching the movie, akwaaard’ au

“Really!? Really, Percy?” Nico asked Percy with mocking disbelief as the tad-taller boy grinned sheepishly. They were standing in front of the cinema, staring at the poster of the movie Percy picked out for them. The poster showed a couple looking at each other with such intense eyes that they could just jump each other right there. Otherwise, it was just plain, which might tell you a little about the movie itself.

“Come on, Nico! You can’t really judge a movie by its poster.” Percy tried, although his confidence was wavering inside. His fingers were either clammy from nervousness or holding the bag handle. To be honest, it seemed to be a very good idea until his idiotic self decided to choose a cinema that didn’t even sell popcorn and went for the first romantic movie he saw on the schedule.

As they walked inside, arms brushing occasionally that Percy wished he could just reached out for that smooth hand in Nico’s jeans pocket. The cinema was oddly quiet and the two were the first to settle down the seats. Nico seemed to be cautious of how there was no one but them, which resulted in Percy feeling ill at ease. The green-eyed prayed that he had a topic to talk to Nico before the movie and decided to show the shorter what he had smuggled in. To him, banning outside food was ridiculous when the cinemas didn’t even have a popcorn stall or whatsoever.

“Since there was no popcorn, I wonder if you want something to eat? Or drink?” Percy asked, hands already pulling out his food container.

“Actually, no popcorn would be a great idea.” Nico trailed off, index finger tapping on pink lips. Percy wanted to turn away but Nico then poke his side. “Don’t you remember the costume incident?”

“You looked really cute in that corn costume.” Percy said and Nico rolled his dark eyes upon which were the reflections of the trailers being shown.

“That was until I realized I couldn’t crawl through the entrance of the haunted house.”

“It was more like an unusually big dog sliding door, I think.” Percy tried not to laugh at how the security guard had been forced to take down the door and chopped it apart so Nico could escape. Percy told himself to stop being mean and continue. “I brought pizza.”

“You did?”

“In food containers.” Percy answered proudly. “Still hot.”

Come to think about it, Percy shouldn’t be proud of smuggling food in the cinema by food containers because it was out of character of him to order a bunch of food and fries so he could carefully divide them into plastic containers. The green-eyed had to admit that he wasn’t the type of people who would plan up or consider the pros and cons. However, today was different. 

He was going to confess to Nico. It wasn’t his first time doing so and recalling how he got rejected made him cringe.

Percy had been fooling around too much to his own likings and he didn’t stop repenting the outcomes. One of them had been Nico’s confession. So, he was at a random frat party a few years ago (it was not even college yet) when he spotted Nico standing in a corner alone. Percy was drunk then and after having chewed some fat, he said something stupid like: “Hey, we just ‘click’. Wanna be my boyfriend?”

The problems, to his dismay, were:  
1\. He had had no idea Nico was digging him then.  
2\. He said that when he was drunk.  
3\. He had been with Annabeth then.  
4\. Nico hadn’t come out.

Nico took it badly as a joke and after trembling like there was no future for him, the onyx-eyed replied with the vehemence that squashed Percy’s drunkenness like a grape. “I liked you, Percy. You’re cute but you’re not my type. I don’t fall for jerks.” he had confessed with such venom, it felt like a punch to Percy’s guts. The teen was clearly offended and no amount of apologies Percy sputtered that night could make up to that. It took Percy three years to gain trust from the entire Angelo family, which was how Percy got to know more about the wonderful boy sitting next to him now.

Percy was determined to pour his heart out **right**.

“Percy, we’re the only ones here.” Nico whispered worriedly and for a second, Percy wondered if the shorter teen was anxious about being alone with him or the fact that this movie really sucked.

As an answer, Percy nodded and scanned the empty seats with surprise and some kind of mixed relief suddenly bubbled inside him. No one would be here to glare at them with disapproval and there might be a chance that he would confess more easily if there was no audience to witness this after the movie. The only thing to worry about was Nico’s reaction to whatever was playing on screen.

Percy turned to see Nico eating a slice of pizza, his eyes glued on the screen so Percy guessed the film didn’t disappoint. He wanted to stare at the angelic face for hours but every time his eyes met Nico’s, the boy would turn away quickly and his blue-food-lover-heart would sink. Percy wondered if he took Nico on a date for a drink, would he have the guts to stare at Nico long enough, not fearing rejection? He decided to concentrate on not staring at Nico then.

After what felt like half an hour, Nico tugged at his shirt sleeves with an unreadable expression. He then proceeded to demandingly pull Percy down so his mouth hovered over the reddening ears. “Percy, I tried as hard as I could, but this movie is killing me.” he said.

“I am so sorry.” Percy whispered. He didn’t know if he was sincere enough because he liked sitting next to Nico, only the two of them. Instead, he asked : “You want to ditch this thing?”

“Nah, let’s not waste our money and make use of the silence here.” Nico reached for his bag, his ponytail swirled and Percy wondered how it felt to play with that. To untie it and tangle his hand in Nico soft and shampoo-scented hair.

Percy was blushing when Nico pulled out a book and a flashlight. “What?” Nico asked, checking the cover of the book as if Percy was flustered by it.

“Nothing. I just… Do you always bring books and flashlights to the movies?” he wanted to distract Nico from his heating face but then the other boy’s face flushed as well. 

“No, I don’t.” Nico answered, putting his glasses on. The glasses he only wore when he read and Percy wanted to call him nerd. “I only bring them today.”

Percy wanted to dig a hole and bury himself alive. His taste in books and movies must have been so terrible that Nico could predict something like this.

“You nerd.” Percy muttered to himself. “You adorable nerd.”

“I heard you.”

“Don’t you think they would throw us out with your flashlight?” a failing attempt at distraction.

“Nah, they are sleeping from boredom.”

“You really know how to hurt my feelings.” Percy pouted and Nico responded with a huff of his own. Then a sincere smile bloomed on his face as he said: “Hey, Percy?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad I hang out with you today.” Percy’s heart fluttered inside his chest like the wings of… a seagull. Okay, no more trying to be artistic, Percy. Being with Nico had this side effect on him, Percy would always try to be aesthetic and fail all the time.

He hoped Nico meant it from his heart as the boy leaned against him with his book, sighing contently. It was his source of reassurance for the aftermath of this movie date. His fragile light of confidence was put out, overcome by his fears when Nico opened his book. 

Ever since he started making it up for Nico, Percy learned that Nico read a lot, almost as much as Annabeth. While Annabeth focused on the knowledge of science and facts, Nico drowned himself in the worlds of fiction. The boy didn’t let anyone make fun of his affection for fictional characters and to him, they were untouchable. Nico was always active in ‘fandoms’ and he seemed to be a decent blogger on many websites. The green-eyed found that understandable and he himself could also go on explaining for days why loving someone’s mind and experience creations should not be criticized.

The trouble was, Percy didn’t read. They didn’t share the same hobby and while Nico’s all about learning new things every day, Percy did nothing but repeating what he loved (swimming ) and enjoying the same pleasure he got from it. Much to Percy’s horror, they didn’t have much in common and somehow he still couldn’t stop himself from falling for the adorable nerd. Percy was afraid that Nico would find him boring, just like the movie on screen.

“Nico, can I read with you?” Percy said, completely ignored the couple on screen now.

“Really?” Nico asked, almost dropped the book. He then apologized for that and warned Percy that the swimmer might not understand for not having read from the first book. 

Despite that, the raven-haired shifted to change their position and pushed the book to Percy’s direction.

Percy had to admit, focusing on the pages led him to nowhere but smelling Nico’s shampoo scent and feeling the other weight against him. He noticed how Nico’s eyes would scan the pages quickly and met his from time to time. Percy was aware of how Nico knew about him not actually reading but he tried his best. The warmth from Nico would distract him as it grazed the skin on his arm, every page turning would give him a chance to admire the slim hands.

Predictably, Percy ended up asleep after shifting some more, his head rested on Nico’s hair.


	2. Nico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nico stressing over whether he should laugh at Percy's blue moustache or just lean in and do what his OTP would do that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own this characters. Rick Riordan does.

“Percy?” Nico tried, not knowing what to do since he had mixed feelings about waking the person next to him. “Percy!”

He found Percy sleeping half way through the book, leaning against him with his arm contently wrapped around his waist. The dark-haired wanted to let it be like that for a while but the movie had ended and the light had already been on with some background music playing softly. He decided to prolong his time putting the containers and their possessions back to the bags.

Percy shifted and retracted his arm, his head fell back to his seat and for a second, Nico thought he should just climb on top of Percy and stare at him so when the green-eyed got up, he would get a hell of a scare. It wasn’t such a bad idea, if Nico didn’t have feelings for Percy, which made him reconsider the aftermath when both of them would be in awkward positions. The obsidian-eyed felt like whenever it came to Percy, he took double-caution. He felt more aware of many things that he would let slide with others. It was as if he were feeling the same thing as the characters he wrote. Nico sighed and shook Percy again.

“Huh?” Percy opened his eyes lazily, stretching his arms and legs before saying anything.

Nico tried to look at him accusingly. “You fell asleep.”

A blush slowly crept its way up on Percy’s face and he couldn’t utter a word with his hanging open mouth. Nico thought that he blushed more but Percy had proven otherwise so the boy felt smug and contented.

“Let’s go grab something to drink.” He offered a hand so that Percy could pull himself up. “I know a place.”

“Nico,” Percy said reluctantly, his eyes on the ground. “You seem to know much about crushes and love, don’t you?”

Nico wanted to laugh out loud, thinking of having spent years writing romance, which was by far more desirable than anything he’d ever experienced. He’d only got as far as a crush on a dude who probably would never like him back. To his rotten luck, it still lasted.

“What?!” Percy exclaimed at his chuckle. “You write that stuff all the time!”

“It’s not like I’ve experienced any of that,” Nico pointed out, hands in his hoodie pocket.

“At least you have a clue,” Percy muttered, his voice showed something hard to place, like fear. Nico arched up an eyebrow. 

“Perseus, don’t tell me you need some love advice.”

“Something like that. You’re the only one who can help me.” Percy wouldn’t look at him.

Nico shrugged and walked ahead, feeling strangely embittered by the fact that Percy wanted to ask him how to please another person. Why Nico? For love’s sake, he could go on some stupid love websites to find some tips for himself and leave Nico alone for the rest of his life. If this were another joke from Percy…

They walked on busy streets, Nico with fast and too long stride for his own liking. Sometimes he would glance at the side windows of cars parked on their way to see Percy following him like a guilty puppy that had just broken a vase. To be honest, the dark-haired was starting to regret being angry at Percy. He wouldn’t look so sad if that were a joke and Percy had been one of his best friends who understood him the way he understood fictional characters. Maybe Percy wanted ask him because he had trusted Nico more than those websites, more than anyone.

They sat down at a coffe shop and Nico grabbed the menu, hid his face behind it so that his eyes were the only things Percy could see. 

“Talk to me.”

“Really?” Percy’s head jerked. “Oh, so do you think that…”

Nico was astounded when Percy told him that he feared being insipid. To him, every lame joke he had seen on Tumblr sounded funny from Percy as if it were an original effect of the green-eyed. This was not him being biased because even Reyna laughed sometimes. The taller revealed that his crush didn’t even share the same hobbies, which led to, “What even are we going to talk about!?” being half-shouted, half whined in the coffee shop. Percy made it clear that he respected the other person’s choice of recreation but he was afraid that his crush wouldn’t find him interesting.

“Can two people, so different from each other, get together as a couple?” Percy asked, showing an inner nerd through his enthusiasm.

“Well,” Nico shifted and put his cup down. While Percy didn’t touch his drink, Nico enjoyed his coffee the way he did when he read a book. “The only difference here is your hobby and –”

“I think he’s an introvert and I’m just… everywhere.”

Nico held up his hand. “It doesn’t matter. None of that matters, actually. If he and you understand and respect each other, there’s a high chance. Does he like you?”

“I don’t know! He probably thinks I’m boring!”

“It doesn’t matter!”

Now there were two shouting nerds in the café.

Nico felt like he and Percy were having one of those rants about a fanfic, about characters and ships. Whoever the person Percy liked was, he must be very lucky, being able to make Percy show his inner nerd. The green-eyed promised an awesome fandom-er. If only he read. Because of his dyslexia, Percy didn’t read much. Nico wondered if Percy’s crush would read books out loud for him, because Nico definitely would.

But it was too late, wasn’t it?

“Are you sure? Only your opinion matters, actually.”

“What? Yeah, positive.” Nico blushed, wondering why Percy valued his opinion if the green-eyed were all about his crush.

Percy finally drank his blueberry smoothie, downed it all at once and when he finished it, the blue liquid was smeared across above his lips, similar to a blue pair of mustache. Nico suppressed his giggles as Percy drew in a deep breath. The tad-taller teen leaned forward and clapped his hands over Nico’s, which were resting on the table, causing the black-eyed to flinch.

“Nico, would you hang out with me? As boyfriends?”

The expressions on Nico’s face changed from laughing to being shocked.

“Percy, since when-”

“I don’t know, Nico. I like you so much that when I’m with you, I have super weird thoughts. I’m completely out of my mind and not myself,” Percy spilled out. “I know this sounds ridiculous, but it’s how I feel.”

Nico retracted his hands and pulled out some tissue to wipe Percy’s mouth, calmly, but his heart was thumping in his chest. He needed to think carefully but Nico had been distracted by the blue mustaches so the confession came as a double surprise. After disposing the ball of tissue, he didn’t dare to look at Percy in the eyes.

“Say what you want to say again?” he uttered, his hands on Percy’s this time, as if to keep the jet black-haired from running away. His eyes were still glued on the empty cup in front of him.

“I like you, Nico. Would you be my boyfriend?”

“Yes. Because I like you, too.”

“You do? But why?”

Nico rolled his eyes, his heart fluttering inside. “I don’t know! I’m just as clueless as you are.”

A session of awkward glances at each other took place for 3 minutes before Nico spoke again.

“I think, you’re wonderful. Sometimes crazy, but wonderful,” was said sincerely.

“I think you are flawless,” Percy said, leaning closer and if Nico thought his heart couldn’t perform any worse, he was clearly wrong.

“Ask before you act, young man.” Nico placed his index finger against Percy’s lips, trying to calm himself down. The green-eyed blinked in surprise.

“May I kiss you now?” he smiled.

“Yes, you may.” The ear tips reddened, mind unable to process. Nico didn’t know what to expect from Percy and the kisses he read, wrote about were all so… desirable. What if he failed to provide Percy with the same satisfying feelings the characters received after kissing?

Their noses bumped and Nico was flooded with self-doubt. He had never kissed anyone lips to lips and had never been in a relationship before. Partly because he hadn’t tried to reach out for others and didn’t expect much from Percy, who used to give out an impression of a shallow athlete. Nico fell for him firstly because of his good looks, but then the swimmer started to unfold himself and Nico had no good reason to stop liking him. He didn’t try to deal with his crush, either.

Percy smiled reassuringly and Nico sighed, wanting to tell himself off for having doubt the chance of trying something new. He tilted his head and so did Percy, their noses out of the way. Nico closed his eyes and relaxed to feel the warmth and pressure from Percy’s lips.

Nico reopened his eyes and blinked in confusion when he realized his long time crush pecked him on the lips.

“Is that it?” he asked, his voice squeaky against his will.

“Yeah.” Percy grinned back sheepishly, a wake of pink was spread across his face, showing that he was as nervous as Nico was. “I don’t want to rush things up if you're not ready.”

“No, I’m born ready,” Nico said, showing determination. “Do it.”

“Do what?”

“Kiss me, hard. French kiss, tongue play, stuff like that,” Nico insisted, regardless of Percy being helplessly flustered. The shorter quickly took hold of the swimmer’s hands to pull him closer but the bigger hands escaped to lace their fingers together.

This kiss was still lips pressing but it lingered longer than their first. Nico felt weirdly comfortable , satisfied and when he looked at Percy again, the latter was grinning brightly, hands hadn’t left his.

“I would like this, Nico. I think you do, too. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Nico blushed at Percy’s words, regarding them as a promise for new and unforgettable experiences.

“Yes, we will,” he said, loving how ‘we’ meant him and Percy.


End file.
